if this bill fails today, we are no longer a democracy. Eighty percent of the people in this country want to see a ban on assault weapons. This debate is not being controlled by our constituents, it is not being controlled by the 80…

last Thursday in Easley, SC, staff at a local bank reported a man for suspicious behavior. As police officers approached the man, he reached into a bag for a 9mm pistol, whereupon an officer shot him. In the man's nearby car police found a…

why do we need health care reform? Besides the 35 to 40 million Americans with no health care plan at all, there is health care's stratospheric cost on the Government and economy. Health care costs already anchor our national debt. If we…

it seems Republicans loathe the idea of enacting effective Democratic legislation. So rather than act on the crime bill, they have stalled time and again, hoping to cripple what they cannot claim for their own. That is too bad. Americans…

Mr. Chairman, habeas corpus is the way that the Federal courts consider whether prisoners are unconstitutionally imprisoned. Habeas is the principal way the Federal courts enforce the Bill of Rights in State criminal cases. I am a…

ladies and gentlemen, we can talk about this rule as not being fair, but there were 107 amendments that were not made in order. Five of them were bipartisan, 53 of them were Democrats, and 49 of them were Republican amendments. This is a…

Mr. Speaker, this rule will allow the House to begin consideration of H.R. 4092, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. In the State of the Union Address, the President urged Congress to set aside partisan differences and to…

This is a fair rule, and it is not unprecedented. This is the way we have handled bills that get as involved as this one. There are before the Committee on Rules at this time 176 amendments that we are trying to deal with. It is impossible…

recent statistics reveal a dramatic increase in violent crime. It is this increase that has everyone frightened. Violent crime creates a climate of fear in our community that has a substantial impact on how we live and go about our daily…

as the economy continues to improve, Republican protests over the administration's budget policies grow more shrill, and less credible. They fear that an improving economy makes their doomsday predictions seem foolish. They hope to cloud…

this week there is more proof that last year's doomsayers employed empty rhetoric when they predicted economic disaster if the President's deficit reduction plan was enacted. Jobs are being created at the rate of 164,000 per month, the…